


i'd live for you (and that's hard to do)

by librawritings



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: And Annabeth is Empress, F/M, I enjoy Powerful Percy way too much and this is a result of that, I've been wanting to write PJO/HOO for a while and here I am, Mentions of Tartarus, Percy is King, Post-The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus), Powerful Percy, Powerful Percy Jackson, Powerful! Percy, Pre-The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus), Set between HOH and BOO because it's what we deserved, Trauma, anyway enjoy!, implied PTSD, percabeth, percy jackson - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:01:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22222222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/librawritings/pseuds/librawritings
Summary: After Tartarus, one would hope that Percy and Annabeth catch a break. In fact, the opposite happens.Basically, Percy is powerful.Set between The House of Hades and The Blood of Olympus, because Rick didn't give us a Percy/Annbeth POV in the last book like we deserved, and I firmly believe Percy has god-level strength.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 33
Kudos: 640





	i'd live for you (and that's hard to do)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first time writing Percy Jackson fanfiction in years, so I hope you like it! The title comes from 'Ride' by twenty one pilots, a song that I love very much. That band always has such great lyrics that make amazing fic titles.
> 
> I do not own Percy Jackson or any of the characters from The Heroes of Olympus. Or from Percy Jackson and the Olympians, for the matter.

The sensation of falling is something that Percy Jackson thinks will be chasing him into his unconscious hours for the rest of his life, so it doesn’t surprise him when the plummeting sensation wakes him up. It does, however, surprise him when the feeling – that awful, dreadful, paralyzing feeling of being in a free-fall – continues and gets worse. The bow of the Argo II tips sickeningly downward, and all at once, Percy feels the strength of the waves beneath them, hears the wind roaring outside, and he realizes what’s happening.

The Argo II is trapped in a massive storm.

Annabeth is already out of bed, pulling on shoes and grabbing her drakon-bone sword with rapid-fire motion. She tosses something at him, and he catches it reflexively, letting the familiar feel of Riptide in his hand settle him. He doesn’t have to wonder how she knew he needed this; weapons have been a comforting, solid weight for both of them since Tartarus.

They don’t have time to wonder how neither he nor Jason detected this coming. Already, Percy can hear shouts and screams of his friends on the deck above them, and he’s not about to let them deal with this alone.

He throws on a shirt, mind whirling, and the ship tilts again beneath his feet, bringing them to an almost vertical angle that causes him to slam into the wall, catching Annabeth against him.

Her puzzled eyes meet his, and he knows. This is no ordinary storm.

 _Of course not_ , he thinks to himself as they stumble their way out of his cabin, _why would the storm be normal?_

Annabeth charges in front of him, up the stairs, and there’s a part of him that wants to push in front of her, take the lead, _protect_ her from whatever is going on, but Percy is smarter than that and stays behind her.

The Argo II rises over another swell so violently that Percy nearly falls back down the stairs, but he grips the stair railing tightly and pauses just to hang on. Annabeth is clutching both rails in front of him, and he can see a terrifyingly dark sky past her, filled with rolling clouds lit up only by bright and frequent flashes of lightning. Thunder booms, and Percy feels sick to his stomach in a way that he never has before. It worsens when the ship slides down the crest of the wave and the view of the sky is replaced by the equally-as-horrifying sight of the frothing ocean beneath them.

That falling sensation leaves him breathless, and for a second, it’s not the black water that he sees, but red, hazy, toxic air around him and a membranous ground underneath his feet instead of wooden stairs.

Percy blinks and the moment passes. Annabeth is staring down at him, and though he can’t hear her over the roaring of the wind in his ears, he reads her lips. “It’s okay. We’re okay.” She extends a hand down to him.

They’re clearly not okay – and how could they be, either of them, after surviving literal hell? Percy is bitter, and so is Annabeth, and he just wants to lay down and forget about Gaea and the giants, to hell with the gods now, they _let_ them fall, just _let them_ , their own children, their saviors, and it is beyond screwed up despite how necessary it may have been – but he appreciates her attempt nonetheless and grabs her hand. They have friends to help, after all.

They race up the stairs and gods, is it a mess. Water is crashing over the sides of the ship with rain adding to it from above, Leo is lashed to his Wii controller panel and shrieking, and the rest of the seven are running around on the deck like chickens with their heads cut off. Percy squints, and it’s then that he notices there are _monsters_ attacking them also – the golden glint of Jason’s sword slices through a storm spirit, and Piper is chucking sodden hams at Stymphalian birds that are flying haphazardly through the air. Flames spark and immediately sputter out near the front of the ship, where Festus is.

It just confirms what Percy already knew. This storm has been deliberately planted in their path, and these monsters are here to make sure there are no survivors.

He can already feel the ship beginning to waver beneath his feet – the planks are shuddering, holding out against the harsh waves and brutal wind, but he’s not sure how long they’ll last.

He reaches out for the water, attempting to calm it and even the storm above them (Poseidon is god of storms, too, after all) but it doesn’t respond to him. In fact, the sense that Percy gets from the ocean is amusement, like whoever _is_ controlling this storm is taunting them.

A flicker of fear sparks through his mind when he _tugs_ at the water and nothing happens.

He can’t breathe. His hands twitch of their own accord, and he _can’t breathe_.

Percy forces himself to calm down. Fine. He’ll do this the old-fashioned way then.

This assessment happens in mere seconds, and then he and Annabeth are charging into the fray together, gripping each other as the deck rises and falls over twenty-five-foot waves. Annabeth ducks when a Stymphalian bird darts towards them, and Percy slices through it with Riptide, the sword already in his hand.

Annabeth, her gray eyes fierce, slashes through an _Anemoi Thuellai_ with her sword. It dissipates immediately, and Percy makes the mistake of feeling slightly hopeful. That was easy enough.

Another wave crashes over the deck and forces the two of them apart. Annabeth uses the momentum to leap into the air and stab at another Stymphalian bird that was circling Leo. Percy heads in the opposite direction towards Piper and Frank, swearing under his breath as the water continues to ignore his demands.

“DUCK!”

Percy hits the deck in a slide that’s way too easy given the water, compelled by the Charmspeak in Piper’s voice. A pineapple soars over his head and smacks right into another Stymphalian bird. The bird squawks in outrage before crumbling to dust that’s blown away quickly by the wind.

Apparently, it did not like fresh fruit.

Frank helps him to his feet, and both of them stumble as waves continue to rock the boat. Piper barely spares either of them a glance, continuing to assault the monsters with fruits and vegetables all while shouting things like “DIE!” and “DON’T GIVE UP!”. The former is directed at the monsters, with the latter being directed at them, but the Charmspeak makes his head spin.

With Frank by his side and Hazel coming to assist, Percy launches into battle. It’s not an easy fight, not by any means, but these monsters aren’t the hardest he’s fought. It’s the weather that’s making things difficult, and frustration bubbles up inside of him with every gust of wind that nearly blows him down, with every wave that sends the Argo II up into the air only to land with a crash.

His friends are getting tired. A quick glance around shows that everyone is holding their own, but barely – Annabeth is guarding Leo valiantly while he screams and tries to keep the ship intact without being thrown overboard, Piper is screaming encouragement and death threats, and Jason looks exhausted from holding the overnight shift and that same sheen of frustration gleams on his face, too. Percy guesses that he’s been trying to calm the winds and is finding them out of his grasp as well.

The Argo II can’t take much more. Festus is trying his best to keep the ship afloat and the monsters at bay, but Percy can feel it getting closer and closer to sinking, and Leo must feel it too, if the panic in his voice and on his face is anything to go by. Something needs to give.

Everything changes when Percy turns to slash through another storm spirit, and he looks past its fading form to Annabeth. She’s fiddling with the control panel, desperately smacking it, and Leo is turned away from it, hands rifling through his tool belt. Neither of them notices the Stymphalian bird swooping in above them, the largest one Percy has ever seen in his life. In slow motion, Percy watches it descend, hooked talons stretching to grab ahold of Annabeth’s shoulders.

Terror like nothing he has ever known grips him in that second. Like she knows what’s coming, Annabeth’s head lifts skyward, her hand raising her sword to defend herself. But it’s too slow, she’s too slow, and Percy _cannot_ let her be taken from him, not like this, not ever.

Percy _reaches_ for the sea, lashing his mind firmly around it, and squeezes his fist. The ocean rumbles, held by other hands, but he is determined. He will not lose her.

 _I am the son of the sea god,_ Percy tells it, _and you_ will _obey me._

The water relents, and with a shout, Percy lifts hundreds of gallons of water into the air, forming two arms and fists stretching out of the waves on either side of the ship. His friends cry out, no doubt thinking this is yet another monster come to defeat them. Percy grits his teeth and smashes the two fists into the Stymphalian bird right as its talons graze Annabeth’s shoulders. It doesn’t even have the time to react, crushed instantly to dust that is swept overboard in milliseconds. Annabeth, already drenched, is hit with the spray that comes from that, and she sputters even as Percy coaxes the water almost lovingly away from her, urging it not to harm her. Leo is knocked in a circle from the onslaught, but he keeps working at the controls, not letting it distract him.

Her wide eyes lock on his – this is something he’s never done before exactly, but Percy doesn’t stop to think about it. That _pull_ in his gut is there and knowing that Annabeth is safe gives him the courage to turn his back on her and face out towards the open water.

The swells fight him, another presence pulling on control of the water like an insane tug-of-war. But Percy will not lose. He will not fall again, and he will not lose control of the only thing he has that he _can_ control. There was no water in Tartarus, no safety, but he _beat_ Tartarus, and he will beat this too.

With a yell that makes everything go quiet, Percy calms the sea.

It is not easy. The waves churn beneath him, pushed by someone else to thrash and rage, but Percy holds his hands out and forces the seething water to still. The wind is still ripping, but the rain reluctantly begins to slow down too, as if it knows that Percy will not tolerate it any longer.

Percy grunts as that force pushes hard again once more, and the waves begin to rock and boil around the ship. Sweat pours down his face and he closes his eyes to concentrate better. Everything is gone but himself and the swells surrounding them, and whatever force is trying to command the sea once more.

But the water is his. He will not let it go. It is _his_ , by birthright, and he will not let it hurt his friends. He won’t.

That presence finally relents, and the water calms immediately. When Percy’s eyes open, he sees that the formerly black clouds above him have already dimmed to gray, and the wind has died down completely. The rain is gone.

Percy still holds the sea tightly in his grip, just to be safe. He can feel that somewhere, out there, whoever had been using it to batter the Argo II is amused more than anything.

 _You and I will meet soon,_ he hears it whisper in his mind, and then it is gone.

Percy collapses on the deck, swearing under his breath as all of his energy is instantly sapped out of him.

“Percy!” Annabeth cries out, racing across the deck to him, and she helps him sit up. Her eyes meet his, and in them, he sees everything they’ve ever been through – the Underworld, holding up the world, Luke, Tartarus. He sees the flutter of fear darkening her gaze, and knows that she is remembering Akhyls now, and how he had almost gone too far down there in the dark.

He had just soothed a raging, storm-bound sea. It is something, perhaps, that should have been beyond his powers, but he’s thought of that limit and surpassed it so many times that this one seems rather tame in comparison.

Still. It’s another reminder, and Annabeth is searching his gaze intensely. Percy can see slices in her shirt on her shoulders, and fresh blood welling through them. His fists clench, but Annabeth places her hand over one of his. “It’s okay,” she murmurs, stormy gray eyes locked on his, “I’m okay. You saved me, Percy. We’re okay.”

And they will be.

The rest of the seven rush over, even Leo, who somehow untied himself from the Wii controllers.

“Man, my ship is a mess!” He complains, even as his eyes rove over Percy, too. He looks stunned at what Percy just managed to do – in fact, all of his friends look a little shell-shocked. No one expected that, to say the least. “Couldn’t you have calmed the sea, like, before it nearly destroyed us?”

Percy cracks a smile, unable to help it. “My bad.”

That relieves some of the tension, and Annabeth helps Percy stand from the deck, though he’s so wiped out that he has to lean on her a bit to remain upright.

“What happened?” Annabeth questions, and gods, he’s so thankful that she’s okay that he could cry.

Jason clears his throat. “Frank, Piper and I were on the deck, finishing our night shift, and it was fine. Everything was fine. The sun was rising, the water was hardly moving. And then suddenly we were caught up in a massive storm that came out of nowhere, and with the storm came the monsters.”

“Someone was controlling that storm. They wanted to sink us, and they probably sent the monsters, too.” Percy says, squinting as he looks out over the water. The sky has returned to a normal blue color, and the waves are there, but it’s calm. There’s hardly a cloud in the sky, now. “That’s why it took so long for me to do something. Someone else was controlling the water. I couldn’t-“ He stops, shaking his head. He couldn’t, until something inside of him nearly broke. Until he refused to take no for an answer, and that was that.

“But you did.” Hazel’s voice is as steady as her gaze is on him. “That’s what matters.” She turns away from him, putting those eyes on Jason. “Did you have a similar issue with the wind?”

Jason nods, his expression troubled. “I couldn’t get ahold of it. It was like…like I never had control of the wind in the first place.”

That was how Percy had felt at first, and it had panicked him. Since he was twelve years old, he had relied on his power over water when he could rely on nothing else. To have that taken away from him and been nearly crippling. Maybe at one point that would have been more tolerable, but now, the one thing he had complete control over had been taken from him. It was like his recent fear of drowning; this would cripple him, if he let it.

Leo’s voice into cut into his thoughts. “Yeah, yeah, someone’s trying to kill us. Big deal. This is like a regular Thursday for us.” He breaks into a somewhat uneasy grin. “How about we find somewhere for me to make repairs and check things over, okay? We’re currently monster bait just sitting out here.”

Everyone agrees, albeit reluctantly, and the group breaks apart. Jason, Piper, and Frank headed to their cabins to get some much-needed rest, Hazel beginning to clean up the deck, and Leo walking up to Festus at the head of the ship to receive a report on what needed repairs.

It’s just him and Annabeth.

Despite the fact that he’s physically leaning on her, Percy grabs her hand, needing to feel her, solid and alive. She squeezes his hand, and he squeezes back.

“Okay?” he asks, looking down at her.

Annabeth doesn’t answer at first, merely looking back up at him, and he knows she’s thinking everything that happened, replaying it all in her mind again.

He wants to tell her that everything really will be okay someday, that maybe they both won’t wake up screaming from nightmares, clinging desperately to the other. That maybe someday the sensation of falling won’t make him wake up with a sheen of sweat on his skin, ready to hurl his guts up. That maybe _they_ will be okay, and Annabeth will look at him and never be afraid of him again, even in the slightest amount.

Percy wants to tell her that. But first they have to survive this mess and make it home. By the gods, he’s going to make sure they do. He swears it. They have gone through too much to not get a happier ending, or even a happier middle. They will not die for the gods.

“Okay,” she decides, and Percy smiles.

Later on, when they’re both tucked up into each other in his bed to take a nap, sharing breaths and feeling heartbeats, Percy knows she meant it.

**Author's Note:**

> This is kind of what I wish happened, and in case you did not guess, I was implying that Kymopoleia was creating the storm as a test for what the Argo II could endure. Does this narrative fit with Percy getting beat up when he meets her later on? Nope! Do I care? Not in the slightest! Percy is the best and deserves to treated as such.
> 
> And, okay, I might have a thing for really, REALLY powerful characters. That's beside the point.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this! Let me know what you thought, I might be writing more PJO stuff soon!


End file.
